Redskins-Jets preview: Rebound or Fear the Fitz?

The Redskins look to rebound from a crushing loss against the Jets in a usual house of horrors.

By Talib Babb, special to Breaking Burgundy

Sigh. Captain Kirk was so close to making magic happen again for the second consecutive week.

Instead it ended up being another soul-crushing Washington D.C. sports team loss. I don’t know who’s been through more disappointment in 2015 between D.C. sports fans and D.C. metro riders.

Oh well, it’s time to heal and move on as a community.

Time for Kirk Cousins plus the fans to shake it off and look forward to Week 6 where the Burgundy and Gold take a trip to the Meadowlands for the second time in a month.

The last time didn’t go too well as they faced the desperate 0-2 Giants on a short week. The Skins were dominated by Eli Manning in the Thursday night matchup 32-21 and were down 12-0 by the time Scandal started on ABC.

Luckily for them, they don’t have to face the two-time Super Bowl champion. Instead, the Redskins go up against 2004 Ivy League MVP Ryan Fitzpatrick and the New York Jets.

Fitzpatrick is alumni of Harvard University where majored in economics and reportedly recorded the highest score ever on the Wonderlic Test. Sure, he’s never won a playoff game or even started in one, but he can probably break down math problems way better than he breaks down NFL defenses.

Fitzpatrick is probably most clutch and useful to his teammates around tax time, I'm sure a few of them have asked for the hook up to keep the IRS away.

But kudos to Fitz, who has been okay to start the season. The Jets are 3-1 and haven’t really missed their original starting quarterback Geno Smith, who got chin-checked by I.K. Enemkpali over $600, allegedly. I don’t have inside information, but if the Jets stay hot, Smith might lose his job thanks to a head injury, which sounds very similar to a quarterback situation elsewhere, but I could be wrong (RGIII suffered a concussion in Week 3 of the preseason and has been wearing sweat pants on the sideline ever since).

Here are some stats that probably don’t matter, but somebody spent time researching it (I was that somebody) so you better appreciate it:

-The Redskins lead the all-time series with the Jets 8-2

-Washington hasn’t won a game in the Meadowlands since 2011

-Ryan Fitzpatrick is 3-1 against the Redskins in his career. He most recently beat the Skins in the 2014 season opener as a member of the Houston Texans.

-The Jets are second in the league in takeaways, keep in mind they’ve played one less game than most teams since they’re coming off their bye week

-The Redskins are 1-9 on the road under head coach Jay Gruden

Besides going against Fitzpatrick, there are a couple other positives for the Redskins. The defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown in the first half of four of the five games.

Also, if you happen to be superstitious, Cousins hasn’t thrown a pick in the even number weeks, like Week 2 and Week 4. This is Week 6 so hey, maybe the trend continues.

As far the NFC East teams go, the Cowboys are on a bye, and the Giants face the Philadelphia Eagles on MNF, meaning there could be another three-way tie atop the division at the conclusion of Week 6.

But that’s all depending on if the Redskins take care of business.

I don’t know what will really happen, but I can tell you that by looking at the quality of quarterbacks along with the strong performances by both defenses, this game could be a punt-fest.

I don’t know what will really happen, but I can tell you there’s no way Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers is more hilarious to watch on camera than Redskins defensive coordinator Joe Barry